Where Water Becomes Wine

Presenting: Dauntless

Dauntless is a coming of age story set against a fantasy background. When Kacey Alexander turns 18, she finds out that she is a Mage, one of a long line of magic practitioners. When Kacey’s mother dies, she leaves all of her belongings to Kacey, including a journal that details her past as a monster hunter. When the details of her mother’s past come back to haunt her, Kacey must learn to master her powers and put together an unlikely alliance of friends to stop an army that threatens to destroy her city.

What inspired it: I was in the middle of a long writer’s block when I came up with the idea for Dauntless. One day my roommate Brandon and I were watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I complained about how TV and movies never had characters like her anymore. Characters who were strong, sure, but who also had the ability to be weak. Characters that were well rounded and experienced the full range of human emotion. My roommate challenged me to write a character like that and, after many incarnations, Dauntless was the result.

Dauntless is a book that lets us know that family means more than just who we’re related to. The strong bonds that Kacey has with her friends make them just as much family than her blood relatives. In fact, more so.Further the struggles that Kacey faces in finding herself in an unknown world mirrors a lot of problems people face when trying to fit in.

Thomas Atwood Jr was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His love of writing was kindled early when his father gave him a copy of The Legends of King Arthur as an Easter present. These presents continued every year and he would devour them all. Soon he was developing further adventures for the characters to go on. When his high school teachers encouraged him to pursue writing, he embarked on a journey that would result in Dauntless, his debut novel.